California is a gold mine when it comes to buying judgments. The state has all four post-judgment proceedings to collect. (Wage, Bank Personal Property and Debtors Exam) I have over 50 Judgment Assignment students from California and they are collecting on those assigned judgments.

Interest accrues on an unpaid judgment amount at the legal rate of 10% per year (7% if the judgment debtor is a state or local government entity) generally from the date of entry of the judgment.

There are no special restrictions in the state of California when being assigned judgments. The assignee of record can represent themselves in the post-judgment proceedings or hire a debt collection attorney. In the state of California, the judgment creditors are owed $815,789,077 in unpaid judgments, second only to New York. This makes California one of the best states to be assigned judgments.

If consistently renewed, the judgment remains alive indefinitely. The state allows pre-judgment interest of 10% and judgments earn 10% interest (unless otherwise contracted). The State Legislature reserves the right to change the rate of interest at any time to a rate of less than 10% interest. 75% of disposable earnings are exempt in the wage garnishment procedure. At any time after delivery of the writ of execution to a levying officer and before it’s return, a person indebted to the judgment creditor may pay to the levying officer the amount to satisfy judgment. To examine a judgment debtor, the creditor can file an order to appear for examination. The clerk will schedule a court hearing and the documents will have to be personally served to the judgment debtor. If the debtor fails to appear to the first scheduled hearing, the creditor can motion to the judge to issue a bench warrant. Unlike other states, the creditor must pay a fee to the sheriff to go out and arrest the judgment debtor.

CALIFORNIA CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE 673

(a) An assignee of right represented by a judgment may become an assignee of record by filing with the clerk of the court which entered the judgment acknowledgment of the assignment of judgment.

(b) An acknowledgment of the assignment of judgment shall include the following:

(1) The title of the court where the judgment is entered and the cause and number of the action.

(2) The date and entry of the judgment of any renewals of the judgment and where entered in the records of the court.

(3) The name and address of the judgment creditor and name and last known address of the judgment debtor.

(4) A statement describing the right represented by the judgment that is assigned to the assignee. (5) The name and address of the assignee.

(c) The acknowledgment of the assignment of judgment shall be:

(1) Made in the manner of an acknowledgment of a conveyance of real property.

(2) Executed and acknowledged by the judgment creditor or by the prior assignee of record if there is one.

(d) This section is in addition to, and does not limit or restrict, any other means by which an assignee may become an assignee.

TERMS

Assignee: a person to whom property is transferred, either in perpetuity or in  trust.
Assignment of Judgment: judgment creditors often assign
judgments to third parties. When this is done, the assignee
(person who received the assignment) steps in the place of the
original judgment creditor.
Assignor: to give or allocate; allot to assign judgment to an
assignee.
Constitute: to give legal form to.
Domesticate a Judgment: the process of registering a judgment
issued by another state for enforcement
Execute: to complete and give validity to (legal instrument) by
fulfilling the legal requirements.
Obligor: a person or entity who is legally or contractual.
Transferee: to whom a conveyance of title or property is made.

Gary and Cynthia Schmidt have been landlords for over 30 years with over 500 tenants. The Schmidt’s couldn’t take when the tenants lived in the rentals and didn’t pay the rent. After a couple evictions, Cynthia dove into the Post-Judgment Proceedings to collect. Cynthia represented herself in court and has collected over $300,000 in judgments